Then There Was You
by MrsInfinity
Summary: Astoria knew she shouldn't have fallen in love with someone who was off limits. When it came to him though, any semblance of sanity disappeared. Saying goodbye is never easy. Warnings: Language and Sexual Content Written for the Sing Me A Rare OS Competition Runner up for best Romance.


This piece is part of the Sing Me A Rare OS Competition Autumn 2017. I had a choice of song and one character which are [I don't wanna live forever by zayn and Taylor Swift. Character-Draco ]. The Admins of the group then randomly chose the other character or characters. All character, spells, magical equipment and locations from the Harry Potter series belong to JK Rowling.

I'd like to thank LittleMissEighty-Sixed/Gabi for being my Beta/Alpha

 **Then There Was You**

"Please Draco, just hold me one last time. Like you were never going to let me go."

His arms came up around her instantly and she melted into his comforting embrace. Laying her tear stained cheek upon his strong chest, Astoria let his loving warmth seep into her frozen flesh; the sound of his steady heartbeat soothing her fragile mind. She had known when they had started this, that there would come a time when his familial duties would tear Draco from her life. She knew he was betrothed to another witch, a contract drawn up before he had even left Narcissa's womb dictating who that woman would be, but none the less-she knew she wasn't going to be able to keep him and she had foolishly let herself fall anyways.

 ** _It's just a cruel existence like there's no point hoping at all._**

"I wish I didn't have to, you know, let you go... I don't love Padma, and I certainly don't want her. She's not you, Stori. I don't think I can go through with this."

Astoria lifted her head from his chest and glanced up at him, the truth of his words reflected in his stormy eyes were unsurprising to her. Of course he would give up everything for her; his land, title, and fortune were all wrapped up in this marriage deal and if Draco reneged on the contract then everything would fall to the betrayed party. In this case, the Malfoys would lose everything save the clothes on their back to the Patils.

"You know that's not possible. Patil will strip you and your parents of everything, leaving you destitute; Nothing more than paupers begging in the streets. And Draco, you know since the wars ended that the streets aren't so keen to help a fallen Malfoy. You can't live like that, no one should." She placed her hands on his face and brought his head down to rest on hers. He exhaled a slow breath and ran his hands slowly down her arms until his hands were covering hers, giving them a gentle squeeze before brushing a soft kiss against her forehead.

"Astoria, what's the point of having all that wealth if I'm bloody miserable? If it's not you that's wrapped in my arms every night, then what do I care if the bed is a bale of hay or a throne of gold? I don't want to promise forever to someone who isn't you."

Astoria pushed away from him, turning towards the wall and clutched her arms around her body.

This wasn't what she had envisioned for their last night together.

She was torn, while the words he was saying were full of promise and love, she knew it wasn't plausible. Astoria refused to be the reason Draco and his parents lost everything; at the end of the evening she would be saying goodbye.

She had to.

It was the only way.

 ** _I'm sittin' eyes wide open and I got one thing stuck in my mind_**.

"I don't want to talk about that right now. We have tonight, in this moment we are together, so please… let's just focus on that."

"Don't you understand Astoria? All these years I've been empty and cold. Only living for my father's approval, I didn't know I could feel like this and I've never…" His voice trailed off as he reached for her.

She stepped back, afraid that if she let his words truly sink in, she would be gone forever. She would let him strip her of all resolve and reason.

Astoria would let him keep her.

"Please Astoria," Draco took another step towards her. "Please just leave with me, we don't need money or fancy homes. As long as I have you, I will always be the richest man in the room."

Astoria needed to leave she needed to get out of thereshe thought they could have one last night together, but if he kept up with all these pretty words she was going to crumble.

 ** _Wondering if I dodged a bullet or just lost the love of my life_**.

"I'm sorry Draco, it's not possible. I need to go," Astoria tried to move around him and make with her cowards retreat, but Draco's hands gripped her shoulders as he took another step forward, pushing her against the wall. She tried to push him off but found her arms weak; her treacherous body unwilling to dislodge Draco from her person.

"Astoria, let me love you… let me _choose_ you," He whispered against her ear, nuzzling at the sensitive skin there, making her involuntarily shiver. Slowly, he kissed his way down her neck, nipping and suckling along the way.

"Please Astoria," The words were barely more than a whisper against her throat.

"We can't," She breathed out, feeling her body begin to shake, she was sure she would fall to the ground but Draco's weight kept her firmly in place.

"We can Stori, fuck… just let me love you! Please..."

Draco continued his ministrations, touching, kissing and teasing, her sensitive flesh flushed, burning for more. No, she couldn't give in.

"Please, Draco." Astoria was whimpering by now, his touch unraveling everything she had been fighting against. Every inch of Astoria's body was screaming at her to let Draco have her in anyway he wanted.

For a moment he went still against her, the room silent except for their heavy breathing and the sound of thundering heartbeats.

"Do you really want me to stop?" His voice strained the words spoken softly.

"What I want, and what I need are not one in the same Draco. I want nothing more than to feel your lips on mine and pretend that I can keep you with no consequences. What I need... is to leave before both our hearts are broken beyond repair."

 ** _Baby baby, I feel crazy, up all night and every day._**

He shifted against her, his breath hot against her skin before she felt Draco's lips begin kissing their way down her jawline, brushing across her mouth softly, then sealing her lips with his. She pushed against him, managing to stop the kiss before it became heated.

"What are you doing, Draco?"

"Pretending, as though there were no consequences."

Draco knew the minute she had decided to give in, the flicker of acceptance shining in her bright eyes. Acting immediately, he slammed his lips on hers. Astoria brought her hands up and fisted them in the material of his shirt, attempting to pull him in closer. She took his lower lip between her teeth, causing him to groan into her mouth.

When his thumbs brushed against the sides of her breasts, Astoria instinctively arched into his touch needing more. Sensing her desire, Draco broke off their kiss and leaned down to kiss her shoulders, pushing the slim straps of the cami she was wearing down her arms. He continued to place soft kisses along her skin while moving one of his legs between hers, bending it so as her center was resting on his thigh. The sensation of his gentle rocking against her sending electricity throughout her body, awakening the primal side she had been so desperately trying to choke down all night.

Her hands moved to his shoulders, then into his soft tresses where she yanked on the strands of hair she had threaded through her fingers. Forcing his head up so she could look him in the eyes, she was shocked by what she saw. His beautiful stormy eyes were half lidded and filled with a lusty passion she had never before encountered. They stayed that way for a few moments, gazing into the other's eyes, before he leaned down and captured her lips in a heady kiss; he furiously probed her sweet mouth with his tongue, eager to taste every part of her fully.

Astoria returned the kiss with equal fervor; slipping her tongue into his mouth and battling for control. Her fingers laced through his hair once more, as their kiss deepened. Draco's arms slowly slid up her body and around her back, as they encircled her waist she felt him pull her away from the wall in an effort to get her as close as possible. Astoria molded herself against him, and the world suddenly stopped spinning. All thoughts of forbidden love, pending marriage contracts, and heart wrenching goodbye's disappeared. All that was left was him and her in this moment.

Draco and Astoria.

 ** _I don't want to live forever, cause I know I'll be living in vain._**

It didn't take long before they found the bed, a quick wandless spell on Draco's part divesting them of their clothing as he laid her back upon it, the cool silkened sheets doing little to soothe her flushed skin.

Draco settled himself between her legs, propping himself up on one arm and reached between them with his other hand to tease her sensitive folds, eliciting a low moan from Astoria.

She pulled his mouth to her breast, wanting every ounce of pleasure he had to offer. He happily obliged placing a soft kiss on her breast before taking its nipple in his mouth, rolling it between his teeth and suckling at her hungrily, swirling his tongue over the hardened peak.

"Fuck, so tight," Draco groaned, as he slipped a finger inside her, working _that_ spot furiously, adding a second finger and stretching her in the most delicious of ways when she began sobbing his name over and over, begging for release.

"Please Draco, I can't wait…" Her heart was thundering, his sinful lips were everywhere and she was on the verge of combusting from the heat being generated between them. She needed him now.

Draco removed his fingers and shifted between them. Taking his cock in his hand he slowly rubbed the head along her slit, teasing her engorged clit, slickening himself with her arousal before brushing against her entrance and pushing in, inch by agonizing inch, than withdrawing to just the tip before plunging into her velvety heat again and again. She dug her hands into the flesh of his arse when he continued to maintain the excruciating slow pace, urging him to go harder… faster. Arching against him when he took a nipple in his mouth, and began _finally_ pumping into her with abandon, groaning into her throat how beautiful she was, how perfect she felt.

 ** _And I don't want to fit wherever._**

"Please Draco…" She begged, when she could no longer wait, her voice shaky and low, Astoria's entire body was on fire. Every nerve ending ablaze with pleasure and she needed more.

Draco thrust deeper in reply, snapping his hips furiously, his hands gripping her hips so hard she would see the evidence of their last coupling for weeks to come. His lips found hers again and Astoria was positive she had been ruined foreverno man would ever touch her or love her like Draco did in this moment. When her release hit, pleasure surged through every inch of her body; the euphoric warmth washing over her again and again as Draco bucked against her erratically, lost in the feeling of her silkened channel fluttering around him. With a low groan of her name he exploded inside of her, collapsing against her chest; His harsh ragged breathing matching her own.

Astoria slowly came back down to earth to find the smell of sex, sweat, and her complete surrender encompassing them. She couldn't keep the trembling at bay, and warred valiantly within herself not to cry. Not to let the desperation she felt, the weakness she had succumbed to, win. She would let Draco have this one last _good_ memory.

Draco, having finally regained his faculties, rolled off her, turning onto his side and draping an arm around her waist. He nuzzled his face into her hair, murmuring words of affection and everlasting love, his nose brushing her earlobe and causing an involuntary shiver to shoot down her spine. Sated as she was, Draco's poetic way of seeing to her after making love as they had, was enough to stoke the fires once more and she quickly rolled them over, impaling herself on his still rigid length; vowing to enjoy being his lover for as many times as their bodies would allow that night.

In the morning, when the early morning sun's light illuminated the room and Astoria awoke wrapped in Draco's embrace, she quietly dislodged herself from the still slumbering man. She scooped her clothes up from the floor and padded softy across the room towards the loo, hopeful not to wake him. She hastily cleaned up and made her way back into his room to retrieve her purse, unable to stop herself from glancing towards where his body was still sprawled over the bed, his face relaxed so peaceful. Instantly she filled with regret in regards to everything she had ever done with him. Astoria had known she shouldn't have offered that drink to him two years ago; News of his iron clad nuptial contract was already well known and still she pursued him.

 ** _I just wanna keep calling your name...:_**

Wand in hand she wiped away the tears and set the note she had penned the day before on the table beside the bed, next to the emerald necklace he had given her for their anniversary a few months back. Draco would understand the implications of her giving it back; the necklace had a tracking charm, which at the time had proven useful while they were sneaking around. But now… now Astoria couldn't bare Draco being able to find her.

She made her way through his flat, stopping to touch the counter in the kitchen, where she had been perched a year before; they had almost been caught by Mr. Patil while on a date, the thrill of the secrecy was still exhilarating. Draco had stripped Astoria of her clothes the minute they arrived at his flat, tossed her on the counter and ravaged her right there. After they had finished and he was slumped against her, Draco told her he loved her. It was a first for both of them, Draco having never said those three words to anyone and Astoria having never heard them before. A small smile crept it's way upon her face at the memory, but quickly vanished when she heard Draco calling for her from the back of the flat. Rushing out the front door and across the hallway as fast as possible, Astoria was sure she garnered a few surprised looks from the other tenants making their way out of the building. She ran as fast as possible, the heels from the previous evening making it difficult, when she finally reached an apparition point Astoria gave little thought to the destination. She just needed out, the first place that popped in her head she latched onto and disappeared. Unfortunately it wasn't before she caught a glimpse of Draco rushing towards her, his face stricken with grief and the necklace dangling from his clenched fist.

XxX

 ** _Six Months Later_**

Daphne Greengrass was a witch on a mission, zigzagging through the ministry lobby and paying no mind to the other people she was unceremoniously plowing through. She needed to get home as quickly as possible, the newest edition of the Daily Prophet tucked tightly under her arm; the headline of the morning was something her younger sister needed to see immediately. Canceling her appointments for the rest of the day had proved difficult but she managed. This was important after all and if she had to fib a little to a few clients so be it. When Astoria landed in Daphne's receiving room nearly half a year ago, the older sister vowed to do whatever it took to ensure her baby sister's happiness. Seeing Astoria so broken, and being so helpless as to how to help her was hard on Daphne. She tried her best of course; made sure the broken hearted witch was nourished and kept after, had a place to stay and hide from the source of her misery. It wasn't enough though. The shine never completely came back to Astorias eye, no fresh spring in her step, no semblance of the old Astoria. Her bubbly vivacious sister had become withdrawn; the thought that she would never hear Astoria's laughter again devastated her.

However, Daphne thought as she entered her home and went in search of Astoria, she had a strong inclination that was about to change.

It didn't take long to locate the solemn brunette, she was sat at the kitchen table sipping on a cup of tea.

"Hello little sister, thought I would bring you today's issue of The Daily Prophet myself," Her voice eerily cheery and prompting Astoria to arch an eyebrow in her sister's direction.

"You left work and came here… just to show me the paper?" Astoria questioned, setting her cup on the table and raising up to greet her suspicious sibling. Daphne nodded her head eagerly, reached under her arm and thrust the paper that resided there into Astoria's face.

Astoria peeled it away from her face with a huff, "Was that really necessary?"

"Just look at it Tori, look!" Daphne gestured wildly toward the bold print on the front page, deciding to appease the hyper Daphne, Astoria brought the paper up to read.

 ** _Scandal Scandal Scandal_**

 **Ladies and Gentlemen this lovely reporter was lucky enough to be invited to a certain grand soirée and was front row and center to witness the juiciest bit of gossip.**

 **Hold on to your wands and cauldrons because the wedding of the year was the site of the scandal of the year! Yesterday's much anticipated nuptials between the Gorgeous Slytherin Draco Malfoy and Gryffindor Princess Padma Patil was all set to be the picture perfect affair when chaos broke out; in the form of one Pansy Parkinson. Miss Patil had already walked down the thirty foot aisle, blanketed with the reddest rose petals I've ever seen, and was being given away by her father when the former Mrs. Nott(see page 22 for details of the divorce) came barreling down the Aisle and snatched the shocked witch from her father's grasp and ran out of the building.**

 **Leaving a stunned fiance and angry family behind, rumor has it Pansy and Padma have been hot and heavy since Hogwarts and it seems neither was ready to let the other one go. (Stay tuned for tomorrow's edition for the steamy deets I drummed up!)**

 **No word yet on how the spurned Malfoy will be handling his newly acquired assets since the contract has been broken and he has, as of this morning, been named the sole executor of the Patil estate.**

 **Written by:**

 **Head of entertainment news**

 **Susan Bones**

Astoria set the paper down quickly, placing her hand on her stomach in an effort to quell the fluttering and rolling it was doing, trying to keep her breathing calm and even. She felt Daphne's hand begin to rub small circles on her back, and she laid her head against Daphne's shoulder.

"You should go to him Tori. There's nothing stopping you now. Go and tell him how much you still love him," The words were barely a whisper, soft meant to be comforting, but unfortunately Astoria found little peace in knowing it was now possible to be with Draco. She had broken his heart, there was no possibility of reconciliation. She was sure of it.

Shaking her head no, Astoria wiped at the tears on her face and took off towards her room. Leaving a confused Daphne alone in the kitchen, wondering if perhaps she had been wrong about Astoria's lingering feelings.

Snorting to herself and shaking her head Daphne left the flat and headed towards her boyfriend's home; she was never wrong and she had a plan.

Later that evening Astoria finally plucked up the energy to emerge from her room-deciding a drink was just what she needed to help numb the darkness threatening to invade her heart. She'd not ventured out into wizarding London since the break up, fearful of a run in with her ex and his then fiancée. She was a freelance writer for Witch Weekly, which allowed her the luxury of being able to sit in Daphne's flat and wallow in her misery while still retaining employment. Though her boss was sick of articles on how certain species of devil's snare could be grown indoors with minimal outside interference.

Swallowing down the nervousness that had taken the form of a hard lump in her throat, she stepped through the well worn door of the Leaky Cauldron, Daphne not too far behind and dragging along her reluctant date for the evening Theo Nott. Astoria had been shocked when Daphne began dating the quiet man; her sister was all fire, loud and able to command a room into silence with one arch of an eyebrow and swish of her Wand- a skill she utilized often as an Auror for the M.L.E. Theo on the other hand was eerily reserved, unless you were informed he was in the room one would never notice he was there at all.

The trio found a small corner of the bar unoccupied by drunken patrons and slid into a secluded booth. Theo motioned for a waitress and they soon were giving a pretty and petite blonde their orders. She came back a few minutes later with the requests and they set in awkward silence for a few moments before the quiet was too much for Daphne and she grabbed Theo up for a dance. Leaving Astoria alone to finish off the alcohol left behind-she was not of the mind to complain and rapidly hammered down the abandoned glasses of firewhiskey. The alcohol immediately began working its magic, allowing for Astoria to enjoy the pleasant warmth as as it surged through her weary body, loosening the tightly coiled muscles and feeling her with a lightness shed not enjoyed for six months. The waitress reappeared and brought replacements for the emptied glasses; Astoria made arrangements for an entire bottle and tipped the young girl an obscene amount of money for the trouble.

Groaning and pouring seemed to be all Astoria could manage that evening. Daphne and Theo would stop by every ten minutes for a shot and quickly disappear again much to Astorias dismay. "What's kind of rotten sister are you?" She slurred when she felt the weight of the bench sink in beside her.

"I came here to forgetto wallow in my misfortune, but I didn't want to do it alone! You tosser, stop abandoning me for your boytoy."

 ** _Until you come back home…_**

"What a shame, because I came here to remember." The voice was not that of her sister, or of Theo. No, the silky baritone words belonged to someone else entirely. She didn't need to look to know who that someone was, her body was reacting as it always did when he was near. Heart racing, blood pulsing, head pounding well her head was most likely due to the copious amounts of alcohol she had ingested over the last hour, and her body was trembling uncontrollably. She nearly jumped out of the booth, and her skin, when he placed his hand on her arm and began caressing that special spot under her wrist, drawing from her a soft sigh.

Astoria felt him turn her hand over and place something in her hand, she peered down to see the necklace she had left behind and burst into tears. Between the alcohol and her emotions Astoria was finding it difficult to keep her Slytherin sensibilities in check, she didn't care though.

Astoria couldn't bring herself to see sound reasoning in not showing the man beside her how she still felt.

Not when Draco was wrapping his arms around her like they had never said goodbye,and not as he was leading her out of the bar with a smug looking Daphne watching from the sidelines. She certainly didn't care that he knew how desperately lonely she had been without him when he was clasping the necklace around her throat and sliding his grandmother's ring on her finger-the question she never thought she would hear on his lips.

And she couldn't think of one good reason to not say yes.

 ** _Until you come back home._**


End file.
